Tips

What You Need to Know to Prepare a Homemade Blenderized Tube Feeding

Getting Started

Before starting or switching to a homemade tube-feeding regimen, consult with your healthcare professional to make sure it is right for you or your loved one. Your healthcare professional can provide specific instructions and individualized recipes to provide all the nutrients required each day.

Recipes are suggestions only. Before preparing a recipe, review the ingredient list and take into consideration any special dietary needs or restrictions. Always work with your or your loved one’s registered dietitian nutritionist, allergist, or other healthcare professional to create recipes that fit your specific nutritional needs. For some complex medical conditions, a homemade tube feeding may not be advised.

Using a Compleat® Formula in a Home Blenderized Recipe

Homemade tube feedings are often referred to as blenderized diets, blended diets, or pureed foods for tube-feeding diets. Homemade tube feedings do not have to be “all or nothing”. With careful monitoring by your healthcare professional, a homemade tube feeding can be used for 100% of each day’s feedings or used in conjunction with a commercial tube-feeding formula. Homemade tube feedings can be made exclusively from conventional foods or a commercial formula, such as Compleat®, Compleat® Pediatric, or Compleat® Pediatric Reduced Calorie. These tube-feeding formulas can be used as the base to which conventional foods are added.

The recipes on www.MyCompleat.com use Compleat®, Compleat® Pediatric, or Compleat® Pediatric Reduced Calorie Tube-Feeding Formulas as a base for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

These recipes are not intended to be used as a daily or weekly meal plan. They are examples of recipes using a Compleat® tube-feeding formula as a base for a homemade blenderized tube feeding.

Remember to check with your healthcare professional before you begin preparing a homemade tube-feeding formula.

If a recipe does not contain the appropriate amount of calories, protein, fat, or any other nutrient for it to meet a specific need, check with your healthcare professional about using more or less of an ingredient. Recipes that call for one (1) carton of a Compleat® tube-feeding formula can be decreased to ½ carton, or recipes that call for a ½ carton can be increased to a full carton. Please note that if a different volume of a Compleat® tube-feeding formula is used, the Nutrition Information provided with the recipe will not be accurate as listed. Your healthcare professional can help you determine the revised Nutrition Information.

Kitchen Tips

Use safe kitchen and food handling practices.

Wash hands for 20 seconds with soap and warm water.

Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils, equipment, and counter tops with hot, soapy water after preparing each food item and before you go on to the next item.

Avoid cross contaminating foods. Use a separate cutting board and knives for fresh produce and another cutting board and knives for raw meat, poultry, or seafood.

Use separate plates and utensils for raw and cooked foods.

Storage Tips

Keep foods at proper temperatures: 40° F or below for refrigerator and 0° F or below for freezer.

Store unopened cartons of Compleat® tube-feeding formulas at room temperature. Do not store near a heat source and do not freeze.

Cover and store opened cartons of Compleat® tube-feeding formulas in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. Do not freeze.

Cover and store unused blenderized tube feeding in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. If not refrigerated, discard formula after 2 hours.

If making multiple servings at once, divide the batch of homemade formula into individual servings. Store in tightly covered containers in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

To warm a feeding that has been refrigerated, run the container under warm water. Avoid microwave heating as microwaves can heat unevenly.

Preparation Tips

Water may need to be added in order to blend each recipe to a smooth consistency:

About ½ – 1 cup of water may be added to recipes that use ½ carton of a Compleat® tube-feeding formula.

About ¼ – ½ cup may be added to recipes that use 1 carton of a Compleat® tube-feeding formula, however you may find that no additional water is needed when using 1 whole carton of a Compleat® tube-feeding formula.

Fresh herbs are used to add flavor and aroma, but the use of fresh herbs is optional. Chop herbs finely before blenderizing so they do not clog the tube. If herbs are getting stuck in the tube, omit from the recipes.

To help make preparation easier and quicker, cut fruits and vegetables in advance and freeze in small containers or storage bags. Do not freeze Compleat® tube-feeding formulas.

Feeding Tips

Administer the feeding at room temperature.

Feedings can be held for up to 2 hours at room temperature. Discard unused feeding after 2 hours.

To prevent clogging and for ease of administration, a 14-French gastrostomy tube is best; smaller tubes are more likely to clog.

Bolus feeding with a syringe may work best and provides the pressure needed to administer a homemade formula through the feeding tube.

Remember to flush the feeding tube with water before and after each feeding. Water is essential for hydration, bowel function, skin integrity, urine production, and many other body functions.